Satya Nadella

Updated: 3 months ago

In Short

Satya Nadella is the current CEO of Microsoft. He is just the third CEO in the company's 39-year history, following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Nadella assumed the role of CEO on February 4, 2014. Prior to the appointment, Nadella led the Cloud and Enterprise Group as Executive Vice President.

Nadella was born in 1967 in Hyderabad, India. He obtained a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University in India. Following that, Nadella came to the United States on a student visa to earn an MS degree in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Nadella then joined Sun Microsystems as a member of the technology staff, then joined Microsoft in 1992. In his early years at Microsoft, he would fly to Chicago every weekend to work on his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, which he eventually earned.

Over the course of his career at Microsoft, Nadella has held various positions within the company. He joined Microsoft in 1992 to start working on what would become Windows NT since he understood UNIX and 32-bit operating systems.

Since joining, his most notable work has come while spearheading major strategy and technical shifts. He is noted for helping move Microsoft to the cloud with Azure. Before assuming the role of CEO, he was the EVP for Cloud and Enterprise Group. With this role, he helped transform the cloud infrastructure and service business.

As CEO, Nadella has begun to make a visible mark on Microsoft. Nadella sent a memo to Microsoft's 100,000 employees on July 10, 2014. In it, he laid the foundation for the companies future to be a business for the "mobile-first and cloud-first world." This memo he also addressed engineering and organizational changes happening within Microsoft in the near future. Here are some quotes from Nadella that give some insight into the future of Microsoft:

"I am committed to making Microsoft the best place for smart, curious, ambitious people to do their best work."

"I've asked each member of the Senior Leadership Team to evaluate opportunities to advance their innovation processes and simplify their operations and how they work. We will share more on this throughout July."

"With the courage to transform individually, we will collectively transform this company and seize the great opportunity ahead."

He lives in Bellevue with his wife and three children when he is not overseeing the company's shift to a mobile-first and cloud-first world. In his spare time he enjoys poetry, literature and cricket – which he loved to play growing up in India.

Some highlights on Microsoft's CEO

Full name: Satya Nadella

Born: 1967

Birthplace: Hyderabad, India

Residence: Bellevue, WA

Education: BS, MSCS, MBA

Hobbies: Cricket, poetry) Microsoft's 100,000 employees on July 10, 2014. In it, he laid the foundation for the companies future to be a business for the "mobile-first and cloud-first world."

31 January 2017122By Dan Thorp-LancasterMicrosoft recently came out in opposition to President Trump’s executive order banning immigration from certain countries, and now CEO Satya Nadella has given some more personal thoughts on the matter in a Q&A with employees.

22 November 2016205By Dan Thorp-LancasterSpeaking in a new interview, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella commented on Microsoft’s current position in the phone business, hinting that the company may be working on the “ultimate mobile device.”

03 October 2016243By John CallahamMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella just received a large cash bonus for Microsoft for exceeding most of his needed milestones during the company's last fiscal year. However, he didn't quite get all of the bonus money he was eligible to receive.

29 September 201635By John CallahamA leaked internal email from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to company employees offers more information on its new organizational changes, including confirmation that Executive Vice President Qi Lu is leaving.

04 August 201697By John CallahamIn a new interview, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks about a number of subjects, including learning management lessons from cricket, why buying LinkedIn is a good idea and more.

29 June 201673By John CallahamMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella has signed a contract with HarperCollins to publish his first book titled "Hit Refresh". The non-fiction book will be released sometime in the fall of 2017.

28 June 201619By John CallahamMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella has written an editorial about how humanity can create artificial intelligence that will help people in the future, rather than harm them either directly or indirectly.